When asked if he had insurance, 'Big' Billy Combs, an actor at Helldorado Town, joked, "Yeah - we don't use live bullets."

"I just try not to get hurt," said George Jones, who works on Allen Street.
Brian Doan, an actor at Six Gun City, said the health care issue "just doesn't come up."

Insurance may be more crucial than they realize. Forty-six million uninsured Americans are more likely to overlook chronic diseases such as hypertension, high cholesterol and diabetes, according to a Harvard University study. For example, 46 percent of uninsured people suffering from diabetes don't realize they're diabetic because they don't receive standard medical care.

Currently, more than 11 million people with chronic illnesses aren't getting the help they need because the uninsured are four times less likely to see a doctor, a 2008 study published in Annals of Internal Medicine found.

Most importantly, lack of health insurance is associated with mortality. The American Journal of Public Health published an article stating that people without insurance have a 25 percent higher risk of death than those who are insured.

Health issues aren't the only consequences of having no insurance. Many people are left with enormous medical debt they can't pay off. Jones received a $4,000 bill after busting his chin in a rodeo accident. He never paid it off. "Needless to say, I'll never have credit," he said.

Jones is one of many who have struggled to pay those bills. Sixty-two percent of all personal bankruptcies filed in the U.S. in 2007 were caused by medical debt, according to a Harvard University study.

Leslie Eldenburg, vice dean of the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona, said she thinks the health care problem hurts everyone.

"People who pay premiums absorb their payment," she said. Families USA, a health care advocacy group, said the average family pays an extra $1,000 a year for the uninsured, when higher taxes and higher medical costs are both factored.

Eldenburg said she favors universal health care because oftentimes people with health problems are forced into unemployment. They make too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to pay for insurance themselves.

"We put people in impossible positions," she said.

Jones, who would benefit from universal health care, disagrees. "It'll just hurt the taxpayers, even if it helps me," he said.

Several actors said they'll try to avoid aging, and the health problems that come with it, for as long as possible. "I'll cross that path when I get to it," said Kevin Doan, another Six Gun City actor.

Jones said he has no plans for retirement. "It's part of the life, the romantic life. You work 'til you can't work no more."